Gavin Floyd: Chicago White Sox Are Ready to Add Another Arm to the Rotation

The Chicago White Sox and general manager Kenny Williams seem to be on the verge of getting some help on the mound. 

That’s right, the Sox are set to get another starting pitcher to take some of the burden off of Jake Peavy, Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and the rest of the starting rotation.

Gavin Floyd is seemingly poised to come back, perhaps as early as Wednesday, and face the Detroit Tigers.

Dave van Dyck from the Chicago Tribune wrote late Sunday that, following a bullpen session earlier in the day, “everything felt fine” for the right-hander.

Pitching coach Don Cooper added that, after throwing, Floyd “felt good, there’s no pain right now.”

How nice is that to hear?

Less than two months ago, Floyd seemed like one of the weak links in the rotation and some, yours truly included, hoped for a few good starts so that Floyd would be more valuable on the trade market. 

Now, Floyd’s return would be an early Christmas gift following a less-than-reassuring six-game homestand for the White Sox.

Not only do the Sox need his veteran presence on the bump as they prepare to finish what they started and win the AL Central, but he is the most effective Sox starter against the second-place Tigers. 

This season, Floyd is 1-0 with an ERA of just 1.38 in 13 innings, and over the last two years, Floyd is 2-1 with an ERA around 3.00.  While he has pitched poorly at U.S. Cellular Field, he seems to handle the Tigers very well.

With a critical four-game series starting Monday, the timing is perfect.

Inconsistent, underperforming, tired and hittable are all adjectives that best describe the starting rotation over the course of the last few weeks.  Floyd’s return would provide some stability and, most importantly, he could be the pressure valve a suddenly struggling team is in need of.

A solid start versus a team he had success against will go a long way to stabilizing a precarious situation.

@SuggestSmith